In order for network administrators or system integrators to install, update, or otherwise maintain software applications and/or drivers on large numbers of thin client devices, the administrators are faced with two options. An administrator can install or update the software and/or driver on one device, create an image of the device, and copy the image to all similar devices. In this approach, however, the created image is configured for use on a single hardware platform only, and may not function properly if installed on a devices having a different hardware platform. As a result, a different image may need to be created for each different hardware platform maintained by the administrator, which may result in a large number of images needing to be created. In addition, a disk image may be a very large file, and the installation of the disk image on multiple client devices can result in the transfer of potentially very large image files to all devices. In order not to have to create a disk image for each different hardware platform, and in order not to have to transfer a large disk image file to each client device, the administrator can instead individually install or update the software applications and/or drivers on each device. The individual installation approach, however, is prohibitively time consuming especially when large numbers of devices or frequent updates/installations are concerned.